Social Security Subcommittee
Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20015
Dear Representative:
On behalf of 3 million members of the National Education Association, we would like to submit the following comments in conjunction with today’s hearing on the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).
Together, GPO/WEP deprive more than 2.8 million educators and other dedicated public servants of Social Security benefits they have earned. GPO/WEP also discourages people from becoming educators, especially those in mid-career threatened with the loss of accrued Social Security benefits. Educators describe in their own words the hardships they endure in a cover story from our flagship publication, NEA Today, and videos produced by the Connecticut Education Association, an NEA affiliate. For details, please see the attached PDF.
The WEP affects about 2.1 million people. It reduces the Social Security retirement, disability, spousal, or survivor benefits of people who work in jobs in which they pay Social Security taxes and jobs in which they do NOT pay Social Security taxes—for example, educators who take part-time or summer jobs to make ends meet.
The GPO affects about 746,000 people. It reduces—or eliminates—the Social Security spousal or survivor benefits of people who also get a pension based on federal, state, or local government employment NOT covered by Social Security. Two-thirds of the pension amount is deducted from the Social Security benefit—for someone getting a $1,500 pension, for example, the Social Security benefit is lowered by $1,000. Nearly 70 percent of those affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal or survivor benefit.
NEA strongly supports legislation—like the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) and the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 4583)—that fully repeals GPO/WEP. We thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments and stand ready to contribute to the effort to repeal them.
Sincerely,
Marc Egan
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association
